GOLD IN TARANAKI.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 918, 25 September 1869, Page 3

GOLD IN TARANAKI.

To the Editor of the Taranaki Herald. Sik, — It will, no doubt, be interesting to many of your readers to compare the following description of Nuggetty Hill gold-field, New South Wales, by the special reporter of the Sydney Morning Herald, with the rock of which the Sugar Loaves Mikotahi and the next beyond are composed. I hare discovered that these " burnt limestone lodes" do contain gold, but as the precious metal is evidently not equally distributed, no correct idea of the yield per ton could be formed, unless a large lot say one hundredweight or so, were experimented upon. The eastern face of Mikotahi appears to be more intersected by these veins of "burnt-iron atone" and " blue pipe-clay" than any other portion of the rocks I have seen, although I obtained the most satisfactory result from rocks taken from the Sugar Loaf beyond. It is necessary to mention that the horizontal veins of "blue pipe-clay," are, in these rooks, compressed into a much harder substance than those mentioned in the following description, but nevertheless answer the description very well. — I am, <fee, F. 6. Rawson. Some very rich deposits of gold have been found in the casing between the rein and the slate trail. This gold is nearly always very fine, and invariably found imbedded in what the miners term a burnt ironstone. This ironstone, however, is, in my opinion, nothing more than decomposed pyrites, the dark burat appearance being caused by tho

oxidisation of the sulphurs. This leads to the in* ferenoe that the large body of tnundio existing in the qu&rti is also strongly impregnated with gold, and that) with proper treatment, it might be made to give a very handsome return. At present, with the few appliances to hand —for none/of the quartz has been crushed otherwise than by hand—there must certainly be a very great waste of gold. Hereafter, when this and the neighbouring hilli shall have been worked out by the block olaimholders, the ground is almost sure, sooner or later, to be taken up by a company, when, if worked scientifically, and systematically, a good return will be obtained. As to the mundio contained in the stone, I have shown Bamples of the stone and of the so-oallod washdirt to Mr. C. Watt, the well-known analytical chemist, and he recommends, as the only moans of saving the large quantity of very fine gold contained in them, that the pyrites should be well and completely roasted, and that then extensive blanket tables should be used to catch the finer and lighter gold. It may be mentioned here, that the gold from this field is of a very high color, and of comparatively lot? specific gravity. These oiroumstanoes have caused tho metal to be looked on with suspicion by gold buyers, who decline to give more than 70s. per ounce for it. This lightness is another difficulty that the miners have to contend with, as it is almost impossible properly to clean the gold. The gold found in tho intorstioes of the rook is always met with in conjunction with the same burnt ironstone — to give it the name bestowed by the miners — as is encountered in the casing of the reef. When discovered in this way, the deposit lies in regular seams, and is followed down until the break in the rook ib closed up, or a more solid bottom is encountered. So much is this the case that the reefers have given the deposit the title of a ' lode.' This oxydised deposit or vein is often very hard, but even when soft, the gold is so very fine in it, and is so difficult to be separated from it that it is a real work of labour to clean it to a marketable condition. It seems to be so thoroughly impregnated with sulphides, that the quicksilver will only take up a very small portion very quickly becoming dull or ' sick*' The miners have tried all manner of schemes to gel the full amount of gold contained in these lodes, but as yet without success. Roasting has been resorted to, but it/nas necessarily been on"" so small a scale, that sufficient heat could not be applied to set the sulphides completely free $ and I am afraid that, so long as the ground is held in small blocks, a sufficient quantity cannot be got together to apply a fair test to the material. If the holders of some of the best claims could be got to amalgamate, a small crushing maohine, with an extensive series of blanket tables, and a small furnace attached, would answer all the purposes required. This, I believe with Mr. Watt, will be the only means by whioh the gold can be saved. When met with in the fourth mode ofoccurrenoe, the gold is found in a bluish pipeclay, evidently the detritus of the clay slate bounding wail of the quarks? veins, mixed, however, more or less with the same kind of oxidised deposit as is found in tho seam of the rocks. I use the term pipeolay as being more readily understood j but the deposit is evidently too recent a character to be entitled to that time. It more resembles a compressed mullock ; and has not more consistency than I have foand in old mullock beds left on the old goldfields from former washings. These ocour in the seams of the rook, where the strata have been broken horizontally. Unlike the lodes of burnt ironstone, which lie more or less vertically, these deposits are always found extending horizontally, their extent being bounded by that of tho seam or fault of tho rock. The gold is found very evenly distributed throughout the whole of this deposit in very minute particles; and I saw several specimens so richly studded, that no portion, however minute, could be broken off without bringing small portions of gold with it.